Oxygen enrichment system for gas engines



mamas 'und Aug. 18,'194s L ,m m. w F o O R a u` o wf m b NIM 4m1 T o a L U 2 m In w v of S U o m e alaufcizf Patented June 29, 1948 ENGINES OXYGEN ENRICHMENT SYSTEM FOR GAS Palmer H. Craig, Gainesville, Fia., assignor, by

mesne assignments, to Invex of Florida Inc., a corporation Application August 18, 1943, Serial No. 499,154 4 Claims. (ci. 12s- 119) This invention relates to a system for enriching In carrying out the objects of my invention, I'

have devised a gas filter which will pass oxygen more readily than nitrogen and other gas components of air. As the selective transmission elements I employ thin films of metal, preferably silver, which are somewhat porous to gases and which will allow oxygen to pass through them with greater ease than nitrogen.

The eiilciency of the filter is greatly increased if the films are maintained at a relatively high temperature, and the heat from the exhaust gases of the engine is used for this purpose.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 ls a diagramma-tic plan view showing the oxygen filtering apparatus applied to a gas engine Figure 2 is a sectional view of the filtering apparatus shown in Figure 1 taken' along the line suitable carburetor 5 having an air inlet 5a controlled bya suitable valve 5b supplies av fuel and air mixture to the intake manifold la. The exhaust gases from the outlet manifold 4b pass out to the usual muiiier (not shown) through the exhaust pipe 4b'. All of the elements described so far are conventional parts of the usual gas engine.

. to the frame I2 by any suitable means.

the walls l3a and |312 is provided with a thin me,

a cylindrical casing l0 which is closed at both ends to provide a heating jacket for the filter. and some of the exhaust gases are passed through this Jacket. For this purpose, the gases are introduced in the front end of jacket I0 from manifold 4b through a connection lila and is taken outof the rear end of the jacket and returned` to the exhaust pipe 4b'r through connection lub. A sultabie controlling valve Illa is included in the connection Ill, and this valve may be controlled by any suitable thermostatic device Illc which responds to the temperature of the filter to regulate the amount of exhaust gases-flowing through the jacket I0 and to thereby maintain the filter at a substantially constant temperature'.

The filter construction is illustrated in detail and on an enlarged scale in Figures 2 and 3. It consists of a cylindrical casing Ii closed at both ends by caps Ila and lib. Mounted within the cylinder il is a rectangular frame i2 having a number of cross members |2a each provided with a number of passages shown as holes |2b for connecting adjacent spaces within 4the frame. A pair of porous walls or diaphragms i3d and |3b are arranged on the two sides of frame I2. These walls are securely clamped to the frame by clamping members Ila and Hb which are lsubstantially cci-extensive with the frame I2 and are secured Each of tallic coating or layer on one of its faces, preferably the inner face.

The porous walls maybe formed of any suitable material which willgive good mechanical support for the metallic diaphragm or layer and at v. the same time will allow gases to pas-s through the walls. The porous walls maybe formed of un- The filter structure for supplying at least a porv tion oi' the air to carburetor 5 consists of a filter unit' generally indicated in Figure 1 at F. This unit may be mounted in any convenient location, but for the purpose of illustration I have shown it mounted above the engine in Figure 1. The d-etails of construction of the filter unit will be described below. It 'consists generally of a cylindrical structure having an inlet pipe 8 which is supplied with air under pressure from a suitable air pump 1 driven from the engine through any suitable means such as the belt 8. Pump 1 has an air inlet 1a. The outlet end of the filter F is connected through a suitable pipe 9 to the inlet 5a of the carburetor at point between the carburetor and the valve lb. The filter F is surrounded by glazed porcelain, frltted glass made from hard glass such as Pyrex, finely woven wire mesh or perforated metallic plate. be perforated by a large number of extremely smallv holes by photographing a design of this kind thereon and etching the plate with acid to eat away the small holes. Any other suitable method of forming the perforations may be employed, Any porous material may be used which will supply the necessary mechanical strength and will withstand the temperature to which the filter is subjected.`

The metallic film or layer constituting the selective filter diaphragm may be applied to the porous backing plate in a number of different ways. For example, a thin film' of metal may be deposited directly on the plate -by cathodic sputtering. or by the Rochelle salt process, or by the Brashears process, all of which are well known. The thin metallic dlaphragms may be formed separately and then secured to the porous walls by suitable cement.

I prefer to use silver for the `metallic coating.

.but any other metal which will selectively transmit oxygen at a greater rate than nitrogen may The metal plate rnay-` be used. The thickness of the metallic film or layer is not critical, but I prefer to use thicknesses varying from 0.01 mm. to 0.2 mm.

As shown in Figure 3, the inlet pipe 6 for the filter passes through cap Ila'of cylinder II and through the front end of the frame I2, thus communicating with the inner space of the filter bounded by the frame I2 and by filter plates i3d and I 3b. 'I'he inner-end of pipe 6 is securely sealed in the frame I2 to provide a gas-tight corinection. The outlet pipe 9 passes through the cap I Ib andcommunicates with the space within cylinder li surrounding the iilter plates 13a and |3b. A pipe I5 also passes through cap I'Ib and through the rear end of frame I2 and communicates with the space between plates 13a and I3b. This `pipe is provided with an adjustablebleeder valve Ia for the purpose to be described hereinafter.

Pump 1 may be of any suitable type capable of `developing from two to five atmospheres of pressure.

- Operation of the system is as follows:

- It will be assumed that the engineis operating and that a portion of the exhaust gases are passing through the heater jacket I surrounding the filter. The thermostatic element c isset to maintain the temperature of the filter at approximately 700 to 800 C. Pump 1 supplies ordinary air to the filter through pipe B at a pressure which may vary from 1 to 5 or more atmospheres. Under. these temperature and pressure conditions the various components of the airin the filter will be transmitted through the thin metallic films' but at different rates. Oxygen passes through more readily, and the air supplied to the carburetor through pipe 9 will be rich in oxygen whereas the air remaining in the filter will be correspondincreases the efficiency of the engine.

, 4 of the air supply to the carburetor This arrangement increases the percentage oi' oxygen in the air supplied to the carburetor and thereby The exhaust gases of the engine are used to maintain the filter at a predetermined temperature and secure maximum efficiency from the filter. It is obvious that an additional source of heat may be employed if required, or the filter may be entirely heated from a separate source. For example, the heat may be'generated within the filter iilms by passing an electric current through the films, and in this case it would be convenient to form the mounting and clamping frames of insulating material. Where the porous backing plates also are metallic, the necessary heat may be generated by Y be interpreted broadly to apply to internal comf bustion engines generally, including oil fueled ingiy enriched in nitrogen. The function of' I bleeder valve I5 is to permit the nitrogen-rich-air within the inner filter space to be drained away and to be replaced by fresh incoming air. 'I'his valve should be set to allow the inner air to escape at s, rate which will not reduce the pressure within the filter space below that necessary for proper operation.

` The rate of diffusion of the oxygen through the thin metallic film may be expressed by the following equation: 'i

1.71 P` D=10 4a )QJ-Tix Timm where of diffusion is proportional to the square root of pressure of the gas and varies inversely as the thickness of the metallic film. Also, the rate of diffusion increa-ses at a very high rate with increase in temperature, hence it is desirable to maintain the fllter at the highest temperature L which can be maintained without destroying the filter.

The pump I may not always be necessary since the vacuum produced by the engine will cause a certain separation of oxygen, but the amount of .separation will be increased by use of the pump.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the selective filter which permits the passage of oxygen more readily than the passage of nitrogen is interposed in the air intake of at least a portion engines.

I claim:

1. In combination, a gas engine having a carburetor provided with an air intake, filter means interposed in said air intake and comprising a thin metallic diaphragm formed oi silver, and including means for maintaining said diaphragm at a temperature of the order of 800 C.

2. In combination, a gas engine having a carburetor provided with an airA intake, a selective gas iilter interposed in said intake and comprising a thin diaphragm of silver having a thickness of the order of 0.01 to 0.2 millimeter, means for maintaining said diaphragm at a temperature of the order oi 800 C., and means for forcing air through said iilter at a pressure of the order of two to five atmospheres.

3. A combination according to claim 2 wherein said means for heating said diaphragm comprises a jacket surrounding said filter and means for passing exhaust 'gases from said engine through said Jacket to heat said filter.

A The following references are of record in the file 'of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 820,283 Clamond 1 May 8, 1906 1,174,631 Snelling Mar, 7, 1916 1,232,215 Cabanne July 3, 1917 1,553,737 Allingham Sept. 15, 1925 1,871,226 Skala, Aug. 9, 1932 2,147,671 Pratt Feb. 21, 1939 2,178,454 Metzger Oct. 31, 1939 OTHER REFERENCES Thorpes Dictionaryof Applied Chemistry, Fourth Edition, No. III (1939), page 605 (copy in Div. 59). 

